Forestry GIS

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi all.The University of Wisconsin has developed a GIS tool that has some good funtionality, called fGIS:http://www.digitalgrove.net/fgis.htmOne of it's capabilities is to export a portion of an image derived from vector data ( shape files and the like ). Also, you can create and edit point, line and area shapefile objects of your own. And these shapefiles can be reprojected within limitations. This means you can draw on a UTM projected raster image, save the drawn lines and polys, reload and reproject them ( if needed ), and save the image, or portion of image with georeferencing. That produces a drawing that can be used in G2k4 and other programs that need lat/long georeferenced maps.It's free.Not as handy as GlobalMapper, but you can't beat the price.Dick

[Holger 0]

Hi Dick,thanks for the heads-up - we can never have enough tools, especially free ones ;-)Cheers, Holger

[Guest bnick]

Holger, Oh Great One... Thanks again for Boise it's progressing nicely, you'll like it...Hey I just installed the free fGIS and what a wonderful little powerhouse of a program... I've used ArcView, AutoCad Map5 and Delorme's X-Map for several years now for my Telecom Fiber Optic engineering, and they all can import and export Geo-referenced BMP's with imbedded Lat/Long data, but I'm wondering how exactly are we bringing fGIS data into Ground2k4...Within minutes of installing fGIS I downloaded free Boise .shp files for Roads, Railroads and Waterways, imported them into fGIS in the default WGS84 projection. I then exported the images to a bmp... I superimposed the bmp onto your Boise Sat image in Photoshop 7.01 and it fit perfect... I now have accurate GIS based Roads, Railroads and Waterways in Ground2k4 ready for tracing I guess...My question: Is this the correct way we are suppose to bring this data into Ground2k4...?First Image is the fGIS program with Boise .shp files loaded...Second Image is your Sat image with the fGIS data imported...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/77447.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/77448.jpg

[Holger 0]

Howdy,well, that looks rather nice indeed! Certainly cuts down on the squinting at the fuzzy satellite image or the need for a second window with TerraServer images. To answer your question: yup, that's the Ground2K4 way. Place the bitmap and start the click-fest ;-)Alternatively, you might want to have a look at Chris Wright's AutoAsm (type his name and Autoasm in this forum's search engine and it should bring up a post with the link to the software). AutoAsm will take vector bitmaps and turn them into VTP lines. I only tried the sample files and there were some issues with the line's straightness (i.e., lack of) and end points (not matching) but perhaps this has been addressed in the past few months.Looking forward to the Boise scenery!Cheers, HolgerP.S. Looks like there seems to be a slight offset of the stream network against the satellite image. Aside from the fact that most of those "streams" are probably non-perennial anyway I'd suggest adding streams "in sim", i.e., using G2K4's FS connection and slewing up-valley to find the exact valley bottom location.

[Guest bnick]

Holger - Hi, As usual thanks for the great advice as I haven't used the FS connection... Seems like I did try it once and nothing linked even though I was using the latest FSUIPC.dll... I revisit that option...I do have another quick question...I've learned to lay down my waterways first, then build my roads which lay nicely over the top of the waterways... But what about those times (like right now) when we've accidentally laid down a whole series of roads first, then the waterways which now lay incorrectly on top of the roads...?Is there a way we can easily change the display order somehow, so the waterways will paint properly in FS under the roadways as is the preferred visual appearance... Can we control or fix this with the assigning of Layers...? It seems it's the order they were drawn that controls who is painted on top another words, Last entity drawn is always on top...As you guessed I have a bunch of roads laid down and now I have a whole bunch of creeks drawn on top of my roads and I'm hoping there is an easy way to correct my crazy sense of order...

[Guest Horst]

Hello all,My first post in this forum.I am a guy from Austria with crazy (sometimes confusing) ideas for scenery design. I am not a commercial designer and never will be.I am a newbie (since FS9 I am thinking about scenery design).Thanks to all the authors of this great scenery tools and tutorials, and thanks to teaching scenery design here.I am a reader (not a writer, and my English is bad), and for me this forum is a dictionary. Thanks to all the

[Holger 0]

Hi all,Horst, long time no "see" (assuming you're the Horst LOWW of the FSL Forum). Hope you're doing well. Thanks for the SBuilder tip; yet another utility I haven't had a chance to "tes drive" ;-)bnick, yes, the order of adding vectors determines the display priority and, yes, you can influence that with layers. Below is a list of my VTP line levels but you can choose your very own one:20 - utility corridors21 - shorelines22 - streams23 - secondary roads24 - railroads25 - primary roads26 - road bridges27 - railroad bridgesFor the FS connection in G2K4 you need FSConnect, not FSUIPC; it's available here in the library (search for Russel Dirks or visit his website at http://www.dirks-software.ca/)Cheers, Holger

[Guest bnick]

Holger and Horst - Thanks for the great info, I can't wait to try it out and see what it can do... Later...

[Guest cwright]

Hi Holger, it's certainly a very nice program. I was able to export a bitmap and read it into AutoAsm without too much trouble. However, I did see a couple of problems. After loading the exported bitmap into PSP, it was apparent that the image lines are slanted over to the left, so fGIS probably wasn't generating a completely valid bitmap. It looks like the bitmap export is actually a screengrab, so the bitmap resolution is limited to the Windows display resolution. This will severely limit the resolution, particularly for large geographical areas. When importing TerraScene-generated bitmaps into AutoAsm the problem is the exact opposite - the resolution is so high that it causes performance problems in FS! For this reason I added a reduce feature, so you can choose a suitable resolution. I think the big problem with TerraScene is that it uses USGS data that's only available for the US - I don't know if TS can be used for the rest of the world. For that reason I've been looking at other sources of data. Horst has made a number of interesting suggestions. I've recently added an import feature that uses data originally intended for GPS systems! Best regards, Chris

[Holger 0]

Hi Chris,thanks for the tests and information. That screengrab export does sound rather limiting, at least for use as input to AutoAsm or SBuilder.Would you mind providing us with an update regarding AutoAsm?Cheers, Holger

[Guest cwright]

Hi Holger, I think I'll do that, but I'll start a new thread, probably in a couple of days. I'll also post a few screenshots. I don't plan on a full release for some time yet due to other commitments - the program is in good shape but it would need a lot of new documentation and tutorials. However, there could be an 'unofficial' early release for anyone who is interested. We'll see.... Best regards, Chris

[Guest Horst]

Hello,Holger, yes, I am the confused guy.Doing well and having great tools to

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi all.Suggestions for improving fGIS are accepted at:mailto:digitalgrove@msn.com Dick

[Guest bnick]

Hey Chris - Hi, I searched the forum and files section for you and or your AutoAsm and came up empty...Is there a way I can get a link to you, so I can download your latest AutoAsm and start learning your program...I have thought for quite sometime now, that it would be wonderful to be able to selectively import accurate GIS roads and waterways into Ground2k4...fGIS has been a wonderful, free way, for those who cannot afford, or have access to, Arc View, Map Info, or AutoDesk's Map5,To be able to drag selected GIS data directly into G2k4, even if as I've read, Streets or Waterways would be imported into their own separate G2k4 project files, would be a great way to speed up scenery design and accuracy, (in theory)...As I try to do with everyone who has offered their experience in tutoring or their talents and vision in code writing, which create programs such as yours...Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you again...

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Chris.An image can be created from fGis at any size you want. The toolbar across the top has an image export funtion. This will bring pop up a menu that will allow a selected area ( could be the whole shapefile area ) to be exported at different "resolutions". The resolution is a whole number where 1 is an export of equal size of the selection on your desktop, and 2 would be twice the size of 1. 3 would be x3....This image is generated, not just enlarged, so a great amount of detail can be generated in the outgoing image.The output is georeferenced. The referencing is in the form of a BPW text file:7.53121787009702E-500-7.67937060279385E-5-88.999986916041742.999986995123The NW corner is N42.999986995123 by W88.9999869160417 and the span in degrees per pixel is 7.53121787009702E-5 longitude and -7.67937060279385E-5 latitude. The actual size of the bitmap would give the other corner lat/long... for example, this bitmap happened to be 3320x3256, so the SW corner is:( 42.999986995123 - ( 3256 * 0.0000767937060279385 )) = N42.749946688296032244( -88.9999869160417 + ( 3320 * 0.0000753121787009702 )) = W88.749950482754478936N = 42.999986995123W = -88.9999869160417S = 42.749946688296032244E = -88.749950482754478936Dick